Freshman third baseman Tyler Keenan went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs in Ole Miss’ 8-3 victory over Auburn Friday night.

OXFORD — Casey Mize, thought of by many as the No. 1 prospect in this year's MLB draft, took the mound for Auburn Friday night.

Ole Miss' Tyler Keenan and Brady Feigl took the spotlight.

Keenan, a freshman, posted two hits, including a home run, and three RBIs against Mize, while Feigl delivered a quality eight-inning effort, which featured a career-high 12 strikeouts.

The end result was an 8-3 Rebels victory, probably their most impressive of the season considering the stakes and who was on the mound, in Oxford, which allowed them to clinch the series against the Tigers.

"The best amateur pitcher in the country," Mike Bianco said of Mize. "One, you always talk about the approach offensively. The other thing that nobody talks about is to beat him, you have to have a great performance from your guy and we got that tonight. He (Feigl) was lights out."

It was obvious Feigl (8-4) was sharp early. He had a solid command of his slider, which resulted in five strikeouts through the first two innings. Feigl allowed just two hits through the first six innings.

He was pulled in the ninth when Ole Miss (38-13, 15-11 SEC) was comfortably ahead, but eight innings was the longest outing of the season and tied for the longest of his career.

"The slider was really the key today," Feigl said. "That's what coach and I have always talked about. I throw better when I have that in the zone and that was working for me today."

Feigl was well aware of the arm he was up against in Mize as well.

"I definitely got excited," Feigl said when he found out Mize would pitch the second game of the series. "To share the mound with a guy like that is awesome and you don't take it for granted."

The last time the Rebels faced Mize was when he appeared in relief for Auburn (35-16, 13-13) in the SEC Tournament last season and limited them to three hits and two runs in six innings.

Keenan wasn't on that team but heard plenty about Mize from his teammates..

"Honestly, they told me how nasty he was the whole time," Keenan said. "He was nasty."

But it didn't matter much against Keenan. In his first-at-bat against Mize, Keenan singled to right field to drive in a run. He scored a batter later when Chase Cockrell hit a two-run home run to give Ole Miss a 3-0 lead.

Keenan returned to the plate in the fourth, this time with Cole Zabowski on base. He sent Mize's offering over the left-field fence to give Ole Miss a 5-1 lead. The most runs Mize had allowed in a game this season entering Friday was four.

"Honestly, all his stuff was electric," Keenan said. "I just tried to stay short and get to the fastball. I got to 2-0 counts in both my-at bats against him, tried to stay short and get to his fastball."

Mize entered the game with just seven walks in 84 innings. So Keenan said he and his teammates knew he was going to be in the strike zone. They were aggressive and took advantage of that.

Thomas Dillard, who went 3-for-4, produced a hard-hit double off Mize in the fifth, and Ryan Olenek and Zabowski hit deep fly balls off him in the inning as well.

Mize's final stat line was: five innings pitched, eight hits, six runs allowed and five strikeouts. It was his shortest outing of the season. The eight hits and six runs allowed served as his season high. The five strikeouts were a season low.

Keenan didn't let up when Mize exited either. Tigers reliever Elliott Anderson entered the game in the sixth. After Anderson hit Will Golsan, Keenan greeted him with an RBI double to center, which gave the Rebels a firm 7-1 advantage.

The win bolstered Ole Miss' argument for a national seed. The Rebels have taken the series from Auburn, which was ranked ahead of them in Warren Nolan's RPI ratings entering the series, and have a chance at the sweep Saturday.

Ole Miss also has an opportunity to rack up some more conference wins against last-place Alabama next weekend. It remains half a game behind Arkansas, which beat Texas A&M Friday night, for the SEC West lead.